How channel organisations can build successful cloud practices

As a concept, it has been around for almost as long as computing. In fact, the current interpretation of cloud computing was introduced back in 2006, which for technology is an aeon. What is constantly evolving is how organisations are looking to use Cloud to deliver the competitive advantage it promises.

So, what will customers be looking to gain from their Cloud investments in the future? AWS has emerged as the dominant player in Cloud services, and its recent trends tell a story about what the channel can expect for 2020 and beyond.

Research shows from 2018 to 2019, spending in AWS grew across all sectors and business sizes. "Amazon reported in October that globally, sales increased by 35 per cent across all sectors."1 Even more interesting, however, is organisational spending within AWS environments has shifted – spending on containers increased six-fold year-on-year. Spending on machine learning grew by 540 per cent, and serverless computing grew 50 per cent.

This points to evolving organisational priorities where Cloud is concerned. Organisations are now looking to derive greater strategic value through efficiency. For the channel, this is an excellent sign; moving into 2020 the channel’s value-adding and consulting skills will make it indispensable to customers grappling with the increasing weight of their AWS environments.

Driving value through the channel

AWS recognises the importance of the channel to the Cloud delivery model, and has a long and deep association with Westcon-Comstor across the Asia-Pacific region. Together, the two have developed compelling partner programs allowing organisations of all types to be nimble and responsive to the evolving needs of AWS customers.

Today, Westcon-Comstor maintains five distinct channel programs around AWS, based on the nature of the partner. These are: Born in the Cloud (BIC) partners, Global System Integrators (GSIs), Independent Software Providers (ISVs), Managed Service Providers (MSPs), and Value-Added Resellers (VARs).

Across each of these partner types, Westcon-Comstor provides a range of technical, marketing and training support programs, designed to specifically apply to different partners. A VAR has different requirements to a GSI, for example, and while AWS is flexible enough to apply equally to the end customers, the approaches to market needs are handled differently.

One such example of this tailored support is the Partner Success Centre, which Westcon-Comstor maintains across the APAC region. Through it, partners get business-hours support across six of the most common languages in the region (English, Filipino, Mandarin, Cantonese, Hindi, and Vietnamese). The support ranges from cloud analytics and optimisation, through to billing and marketing.

Another example of the investment Westcon-Comstor has made into the channel is its CloudCheckr tool. Designed to be a more comprehensive and detailed alternative to AWS’ entry-level Cost Explorer and Trusted Advisor tools, CloudCheckr provides partners functions including:

Self-healing automation – Automating much of the maintenance, and improving the efficiencies of the overall environment.

AWS is one of just four vendors sharing around 72 per cent of the total public Cloud market, according to Synergy Research Group, and it is the largest player within that group. This means organisations looking at public or hybrid Clouds are almost certainly considering AWS as an option.2

Further, the public Cloud is the top priority of 31 per cent of enterprises, and organisations are looking to see what they can do to optimise and tailor Cloud environments. In fact, 64 per cent of organisations see optimising existing Cloud use for cost control as the key priority, and the use of both containers, and technologies such as Kubernetes, are skyrocketing in order to achieve this.3

The channel is in a unique position to provide tools and services to organisations to help meet their current and future Cloud goals and strategies. Being able to leverage the expertise of a distributor with a long history in AWS will help the channel ensure delivery of best in breed solutions.

To find out more on how to build and accelerate your AWS Cloud practice with Westcon-Comstor, click here.

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